Retarded Mom Tied To Tot Death

The mentally retarded mother of a 10-day-old girl was so frustrated by the child's inability to breast-feed that she tossed the baby two stories to her death, a Lake County grand jury indictment alleged Wednesday.

Cindy Shepeard, 36, of Waukegan, was indicted on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of her daughter, Cimantha, earlier this month.

FOR THE RECORD - Additional material published July 31, 1993:Corrections and clarifications.A story in Thursday's Lake County section misidentified a Waukegan police officer. His correct name is Sgt. Fernando Shipley. The Tribune regrets the error.

On July 8, Shepeard either threw or dropped the baby from the third-floor balcony to a first-floor stairway in her Waukegan apartment, authorities allege.

The child died the next day of head injuries.

Investigators said that Shepeard first told them she fell down the stairs with the baby.

But when a medical examination showed that the injuries were too severe to be explained by such a fall, she confessed that she had dropped her daughter because she was angry that the child was not feeding properly, authorities said.

Lake County State's Atty. Michael Waller said Shepeard was charged with involuntary manslaughter, as opposed to murder, because the grand jury took into consideration the woman's mental retardation.

It was not clear, authorities said, whether Shepeard understood the consequences of her action.

Shepeard, 1508 Grand Ave., shared the apartment with a roommate, Janice Jones, who regularly supervised the baby's care, authorities said. Jones told authorities that she had intended to become the child's legal guardian.

The two women became friends at the Palatine campus of the Little City Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides group housing for mentally retarded residents.

Shepeard was described as "mildly retarded," said Waukegan police Sgt. Francisco Shipley.

Shepeard was a resident of Little City for at least 15 years, but moved out a year ago. Jones, a former employee at Little City, befriended her, and when Shepeard moved from Little City, she moved into Jones' Waukegan apartment.

Contacted at their home, Shepeard and Jones declined to comment Wednesday evening.

Shepeard had not been arrested. Waukegan police said they were not concerned that she would flee and expected to take her into custody Thursday morning.

Officials at Little City also declined to comment, citing confidentiality.

The child was injured in the fall just after noon on July 8. Jones had gone home briefly to tend to the baby that morning but had returned to work when the incident allegedly occurred, authorities said.

Shepeard first tried to call a Health Department nurse for help and then dialed 911, investigators said.

Cimantha was taken to Victory Memorial Hospital in Waukegan.

She then was flown by helicopter to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, where she died the next day from her head injuries.

Shepeard initially told paramedics and Waukegan police that she fell down the stairs with the baby in her arms, investigators said.

But after conducting an autopsy, Milwaukee Medical Examiner Jeffrey Jentzen told police that the child's injuries, extensive skull damage and internal bleeding, were not consistent with that explanation.

"He said the injuries were too extreme for falling down some stairs," Shipley said.

Waukegan police then questiond Shepeard in the police station. There, she admitted that she dropped the baby off the banister and onto the stairs two stories below because she was frustrated that the child wasn't breast-feeding, he said.

The identity of the child's father is unknown.

There were no previous episodes of violence from Shepeard, according to Steven McCollum, an assistant Lake County state's attorney.